Dreamforce Flash: Modern Architectures – How IoT Will Transform and Disrupt Your Industry

IoT brings the smart home to you.

It’s the last day of Dreamforce and my, oh my, what a week it has been! The sessions are interesting, the displays are impressive… and the messages are resonating.

In a previous post, Parker talked about the popularity of the topic of connectivity and connectedness at Dreamforce (137 sessions!). Hot on its heels is the topic of the Internet of Things, or IoT, with 84 sessions. And a dedicated IoT Zone full of gadgets! But rightfully so – the IoT is already changing the way we do things, from day-to-day activity with wearables to the industrial management of wind turbines.

Why are businesses investing in IoT now? What are the key disruptors? Is it too early for some industries to join the movement? I attended a Dreamforce session titled “Modern Architectures: How IoT Will Transform and Disrupt Your Industry”, where the speakers attempted to address those questions. Here are the key takeaways.

The IoT market is still very immature. Though a hot topic of discussion, the IoT adoption rate is still less than 10% so there is a huge growth opportunity in the space. The smartest and fastest companies are making a splash and grabbing that valuable land.

There is a lot of opportunity for IoT projects because of availability of low cost sensors and connectivity. This will not be an incremental growth – there is room for companies to step in and completely disrupt their spaces.

We live in evolving world of inexpensive connectivity, data processing, and storage. The insights from this data give businesses a glimpse into how their systems are performing in sense of reliability and helps customers understand their consumption. For example, 20% of HVAC units operate below a rate of efficiency so Emerson is using IoT to monitor use and insure correct installation. This combination helps both the customers and the company save money.

The industrial Internet of Things is growing. There is a lot of opportunity to sell to product makers as they can connect products in the field to offer a much better service experience – businesses know when things will break so they can send technicians out and they also know what’s wrong so they can send the tech with the right part.

Iot hasn’t caught on globally. And it’s not because of a lack of interest – it’s delayed because of regulatory roadblocks not a market readiness issue. For example, in the US insurance, financial services, and healthcare are on the IoT fast lane, but globally there are a lot of countries that still have issues with sharing data on the web/cloud. Companies are on board with IoT, but there are speed bumps on the journey.

IoT is not just a buzzword. It’s affecting our present in better ways and advancements will lead us into the future we thought we’d see with Marty McFly. I’m excited. Aria is excited. You should be excited, too.

About the Author

Eileen Bernardo is the Content Marketing Manager at Aria Systems where she manages content creation for multiple projects. She has an M.S. in Public Relations and Corporate Communication from New York University and a B.A. in Communication from the University of California, San Diego.